The same day, November 26th, the Defence sailed for Cape Town via St. Helena to join the flag of Rear-Admiral H. G. King-Hall. The Macedonia and Otranto had been sent to Sierra Leone some time previously to let out fires and examine boilers.
The British Squadron was now under the command of Vice-Admiral F. C. D. Sturdee, who held the title of Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific. The Admiral's plan of operations possessed the distinctive feature of every good invention; it was extremely simple when once understood. Roughly speaking, it was this. The squadron was to sail south to the Falklands, spreading out to extreme visual signalling distance and searching for the enemy's ships. All signals were to be made by searchlight, and wireless was not to be used unless it was absolutely necessary. The battle-cruisers were placed in the centre of the squadron, comparatively close together, with the double object of being able to concentrate quickly in any direction and of keeping secret their presence in these waters. Orders were subsequently given that, after coaling at the Falklands, the squadron would leave on December 9th, "in order to get round the Horn before the enemy comes East." The enemy was sure to be reported if he used the Straits of Magellan; but it is believed that, to make doubly sure of not missing him, the Admiral intended to divide our squadron. Some of the cruisers would then have gone through the Straits, meeting him with the battle-cruisers somewhere in the Pacific; by this means the presence of the latter would not become known.
Sailing on November 28th, on a lovely calm morning, Admiral Sturdee must have indeed felt a proud man; after years of labour in his profession, he had his ambition realised by the command of a powerful squadron in war with a definite task before him. It consisted of Invincible (flag), Inflexible, Carnarvon (flag), Cornwall, Kent, Glasgow, and Bristol. The Macedonia, now on her way back from Sierra Leone, was to join us on the voyage south.
On December 1st a report was received that "the German fleet was 400 miles off Montevideo" the previous evening, but no one believed it. The next day we left dinner hurriedly; a signal was received, "Alter course together" to starboard 60 degrees. We altered and stood by for action, but it only turned out to be a British vessel—a false alarm which, however, was excellent practice. Information came through on the 3rd that the German tender Patagonia left Montevideo during the night with stores for the German warships; therefore presumably they were not far off.
We arrived off Port Stanley on the morning of December 7th, and were piloted into harbour through a channel in the line of mines, which had been hastily constructed from empty oil-drums, and laid across the entrance by the Canopus. As there were only three colliers here, the ships were ordered to coal in turn; the remainder, under convoy of the Orama, were following us down from the base.
The Falkland Islands number about two hundred only two of which, East and West Falkland, are of any size. The coast line of both these islands is deeply indented and much resembles one of the Outer Hebrides. Devoid of all trees, the dark brown and green moors, relieved here and there by patches of granite quartz, look uninviting, but abound in penguins hares, and sheep. Some of us, being unable to coal ship, landed on the day of our arrival and shot some hares and geese—a welcome change for the larder. It was the breeding season, and the penguin camps or rookeries were a striking sight; on approaching them hundreds would stand up and waddle forward in a threatening attitude, making a terrible din in order to protect their eggs. So numerous are they compared with the inhabitants that the Governor is locally called the "King of the Penguins."
The little town of Port Stanley, the capital, lies on the south side of the inner portion of a harbour on the east coast of East Falkland, and consists of two streets of houses, almost all, except Government House and the cathedral, constructed of timber and corrugated iron. It is very much like one of the new small towns of Canada. The principal fuel is peat, which may be seen stacked as in Ireland. The population numbers about a thousand, and another thousand—mostly farmers and shepherds of Scottish origin—live out on the moors of the islands.
During the summer the temperature averages about 48° Fahr., and it is nearly always blowing hard, raining, hailing, or snowing. Situated in a cold current from the Antarctic, the temperature only falls eleven degrees in the winter; as a result, scarcely any of the inhabitants can swim, it being too cold to bathe. Owing to the absence of sun and summer heat, wheat, oats, and English vegetables do not thrive, but the colony is none the less remarkably healthy.
